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Monday, 6 August 2012

HARDtalk: The Dave Sim Interview (11)

Could you explain how your views on free speech have evolved over
time and whether your evolving views in this area is related to
switching your charity of choice from the CBLDF to the HERO INITIATIVE?

My
views on free speech haven't really changed much that I can see. I
limit my own speech -- like using "bat-s--t insane" instead of the
actual letters. To me, that's a case of overt vulgarity versus managed
vulgarity. I will very seldom use a curse word unless, as in that case,
I'm quoting it. But, I don't think laws should be passed saying that
you can't use the actual word or that people should be arrested or
punished for using the word. If you're somewhere you read the word or
hear the word, that says more about where you've chosen to be than about
the quality of the word itself. Good reason to self-examine, in my
opinion. But, that's up to you.

Give Them An Inch...Art by Dave Sim (1998)

My views on
child pornography have changed. The absolutist First Amendment view is
that if an actual child isn't harmed then "no harm, no foul". And I
don't agree with that. I think society is harmed by even incremental
acceptance or tolerance of sexualized images of children. But, I do
accept that there are dissenting views that have been intellectually
weighed by intelligent people concerned with ethics and that they have
come to different conclusions from my own and that the weight of
jurisprudence could go in other directions than what I think is
appropriate. I also think you can go overboard, charging parents who
photograph their own kid in the bathtub or whatever. I tend to put very
strict limits on my own speech and what speech I will read/consume.
But, that's me. I'm a much better person, I think, now that I own very
few pornographic imagery: exclusively classic underground comics that I
think of having artistic merit that counterbalances the porno aspect.

And
I have changed my charity of choice, but from the CBLDF to St. John's Kitchen and The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in line with the Muslim zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam -- that the poor and hungry of
any community have a claim on a percentage of the wealth of that
community. It's like tithing but less voluntary. I only have so much
money these days and by the time I pay the zakat I usually don't have
much more. And I do tend to pay panhandlers on the same basis: this is
the right thing to do. Even though I see the argument that that only
encourages panhandlers.

I've still got a stack of the
"Drinking Buddies" print of Cerebus and the Regency Elf that I created
back in Susan Alston's administration. I told Charles Brownstein, just let me know if you
need any more and I'll send a batch down. I haven't heard from him.

Okay, let's look for another good cliffhanger.

Have
your current religious beliefs changed the way you view earlier issues
of CEREBUS? Are there any aspects of the Cerebus storyline that you are
now uncomfortable with, and with hindsight, wish you had done
differently because of your current beliefs?

Oh,
good one. As the Mad Monk lurches up the rutted roadway to the Mystery
Castle bearing the unconscious form of the Boy Wonder, will The Caped
Crusader manage to follow the trail of clues and be in time to prevent
whatever nefarious doings are afoot? Tune in tomorrow, or yesterday if
you're time-travelling, Same Moment of Cerebus Time, Same Moment of
Cerebus Channel!